Starless Night A Short Story
by Jessica Liegh Johnson Boucher
Summary: Screeching to a stop, a red and rusting sedan barely missed the woman crossing the busy freeway. As she finally stepped onto the beach off the asphalt, oblivious of the driver's profanity, she gazed far out over the ocean with her dark violet eyes.


•:*¨¨*:•..•:*¨¨*:•.Starless Night.•:*¨¨*:•..•:*¨¨*:•

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Screeching to a stop, a red and rusting sedan barely missed the woman crossing the busy freeway. The wind from the car caused her pink baby doll dress to flutter and her bright fiery red hair to flip. As she finally stepped onto the beach off the asphalt, oblivious of the driver's profanity, she gazed far out over the ocean with her dark violet eyes. The water was coated by a black starless moonless sky, but already a lighter blue was rising at the world's end where the ocean met the sky. A breeze from the black ocean whipped the unnatural colored hair away from a ghastly pale face , the woman's unusual eyes closed as she felt a change in the wind. In a trance-like state she felt the ocean and the wind both foretold of an unseen danger approaching. Before she knew it, dawn was no more than an two hours away.

Hastily, the woman made her way down the beach and into small town surrounding a tiny church and graveyard, she ran through foggy alleys and lawns. Her pace quickened as dawn approached and finally arrived at the graveyard. She began to dig into the soft earth of a fresh grave, down to the casket. The sun rose and revealed unsettled dirt. The woman began to dream immediately of a hunter, one she knew better than he knew himself. He was preparing the traditional wood stakes, to stab through soft hearts; gathering crucifixes, to repel and burn the unholy; and stringing cloves of garlic into a necklace, also used to repel.

Suddenly the hunter was in a back yard, which surprised the woman for it was a place she had been to the night before. He was watering vegetable plants and pruning bushes. Soon after he stood and ran a callousedx tanned hand through his soft short raven black hair then rubbed his bright clear blue eyes tiredly with his palms. A blonde haired woman comes out with a glass.

"Thanks Michael," she said. "I can never seem to get Carl to help out." The dreaming woman could hear the tink of ice and Michael's teeth against the glass, then the blonde and Michael went back inside. "Are you sure you have to go? It's so close to the holidays, seeing as you have no family, I thought you might like to stay with us?" she asked him apprehensively.

"Thanks for the offer Sheila, but I have to get going." He shrugged and then made his way up the stairs to his left. The dream became foggy then cleared A red rusty sedan slowly pulled away from Michael, then he walked up to a freeway. An ocean lay on the other side and dusk was slowly arriving behind him. Two straps crossed over his taunt muscular chest, securing two wooden stakes. A large crucifix stuck out of his left front pocket, another hung around his sculpted neck with cloves of garlic. He made his way down the freeway to a small town on the edge of the ocean.

The woman awoke and began to dig up to the surface, not caring about the worms and assorted bugs that clung to her hair and clothes. Finally spying a dark violet starless sky above her, she inhaled the salty clean air deeply and proceeded to raise herself out of the ground. Just as she was shaking the last of the dark soil from her fiery red hair, there was a snap behind her. She spun around with a catlike reflex and was tackled to the ground by Michael himself.

Before the woman could move, he drove a stake through her heart. The woman latched herself to Michael's neck and he proceeded to savagely stake her in the back. The woman neither let go nor stopped depleting Michael of his precious blood. His neck felt as if it was on fire and he could feel her teeth sink deeper into his arteries. As he neared death, he strived to remain conscious yet still wanted to welcome the dark peace that threatened to over take him. The woman loosened her grip and let him fall to the ground. The sky had brightened and the sun was beginning to rise higher, almost reaching the tiny graveyard. The woman whimpered in fear and left Michael to fall deep into unconsciousness.

When Michael awoke later the next morning, he was covered in what appeared to be ashes mixed with blood. The gooey mixture left his shirt damp and clingy. He sighed triumphantly and watched the sun paint the dreary graveyard with its golden rays. But when it touched his skin, he felt as though he was on fire. Desperately he searched for shade and saw an open mausoleum. He crawled quickly inside and heaved a sigh of relief as he lay on the cool cement floor, his breathing slowed to unnatural pace and he fell into unconsciousness again.

After his second awakening, only one thought dominated his mind. He yearned for blood; he needed it and would kill for it. He looked out of the mausoleum and stared at the sky in disbelief. There were no stars or moon to be found yet the black sky was clear and uninhibited by clouds. But now his eyes were immediately adjusted to the night. He could see into the darkest areas of the mausoleum and far beyond the graveyard. Dread filled him, almost drowning his need for blood, as a figure came up behind him.

He knew it was the woman vampire with the fiery red hair, the very one he thought he had killed. Turning to face her, he saw that she looked like a dark angel. She had changed her clothes but kept her hair wild and untamed. In one hand she had additional set clothes, presumably for him and she held out the other. "I am Zoë."

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This isn't anything new - about 10 years old actually - just thought I'd post this to give readers something new. Please review, my high school english teacher didn't give me anything concrete to go by. ;)


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